SMW Q&A With Charles Barkley (Part 2)

Sports Media Watch visited Turner’s NBA studios on Monday and had a chance to speak with TNT NBA analyst Charles Barkley. In part two of the Q&A, the topics of conversation include the NBA’s age limit and Charles’ relationship with Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith.

SMW: One thing I also wanted ask you about is your view on the NBA’s age limit.

Charles: Well, I wish these young kids would stay in school more. … I want these kids to stay in college longer.

SMW: Do you think just in terms of their development on the court or off the court?

Charles: No, no, no, you got to understand – it’s funny, I was just reading an article today. There were like 100 and X amount kids who applied for the [NBA] Draft. Only 60 are going to get drafted, and 60 aren’t gonna make it. Now what are those kids going to do for life? As far as being a husband, a father, supporting their families? I always look at the big picture. It’s about getting an education. First of all, I wish they all could play in the NBA. But if 100 and something applied for the NBA Draft, if only 60 are going to get drafted, and all 60 aren’t going to make it, what are those kids going to do for the rest of their life?

SMW: Now a devil’s advocate might say why should we have an age limit that is going to –

Charles: We have an age limit in other sports. In college football, you have to stay for three years. So don’t bring that bulls*** up. … And the difference between the NBA and other sports is those kids go to the minor leagues. When you go 18 in baseball, you go to the minor leagues. Same thing in hockey.

SMW: What about the D-League?

Charles: The D-League is just a bunch of guys who don’t want to get a damn job. They’re not going to make it in the NBA, trust me. If you’re playing in the D-League, they might pick five guys a year, but they need to go and get a job.

SMW: What about people like Sundiata Gaines, or –

Charles: Yeah, you can name me a couple of guys, but I look at the big picture. Those guys have got to get on with their lives.

SMW: Well, again to play Devil’s advocate, it is a situation where you think to yourself, well is the league trying to babysit for players here by –

Charles: They’re not baby – those guys aren’t going to play in the league. Dude, guys in the D-League are not going to play in the league. Yeah, there’s going to be one or two here or there, but let’s be realistic. I bet you – Jeff [Pomeroy] could find out or Chico could find out – I bet you there haven’t been over ten, fifteen guys who got called up all year.

SMW: Well, the Warriors have to account for at least five or six.

Charles: I’m just telling you, there’s probably been five to ten, fifteen – see, I look at the big picture. I want these kids getting their education. They’ve got to go on with their lives. … This has a huge effect on young, black kids especially, as far as being fathers. They’re not making any money in the D-League. You end up doing that for X amount of years, and it messes up the family structure. We just gave 11 billion dollars to broadcast the NCAA Tournament. This thing is a big deal. And for these kids not to be getting their education is bulls***.

SMW: Speaking of the NCAA Tournament, obviously Turner Sports has that now. When you were on PTI a few weeks ago, they asked you about the NCAA and you made that same point.

Charles: My same point as always been the same. I’m concerned about these kids not getting their education. … First of all, sports has always been big business. It is what it is. But I’m concerned about these kids not getting their education. Because these organizations, the NCAA Tournament, the colleges, the coaches, they’re making millions of millions of dollars. I mean, the basketball coaches are making millions, they get another million from the shoe companies, the only people who aren’t getting paid are the players. And they’re not getting their education – they’re really getting screwed.

SMW: What do you think about the Calipari situation?

Charles: I have no problem with that. He’s playing by the rules. Do I think it’s right? No. But he’s playing by the rules. As long as you play by the rules, that’s all that matters.

SMW: So your issue is with the NCAA then.

Charles: Oh, I hate the NCAA. The NCAA is a travesty. I mean, think about this. They kicked that one kid off a college football team because he had dinner with Deion Sanders. I’m like, give me a f***ing break. What does that mean? He had dinner and lunch with Deion Sanders. What does that mean? No matter what he was doing, that’s not enough to suspend him for the rest of the season.

SMW: Let me change gears a little bit and talk about you and EJ and Kenny and your relationship. When I was here in December, it was interesting to talk to those two about just how much chemistry you guys have had over the years. So why don’t you go ahead and tell me what you think of the relationship you’ve managed to build up with EJ and Kenny over the past ten years.

Charles: I don’t look at it like that. I just go on and have fun doing my job, and they just come along. They’ve got their own personalities, we don’t hang out together. I think they understand me. And we just try to have fun – I just try to have fun on TV.

We don’t rehearse, we just go on TV and – I try to go on TV and just have fun. And they’ve got different personalities to me, but we match. But I’m not going to change for anybody. I’m going to go out there and try to have fun when I’m on TV. I feel like my number one obligation is to the fans, to make sure they have a good time.

SMW: It was interesting going back and reading what you said back in about 2000, when you were choosing between NBC and Turner, and you said that you thought Turner was more fun.

Charles: Well it was a tough call for me, because I had already signed with NBC, verbally. And I did a friend a favor and came and met with the people at Turner. You know, I get annoyed when I’m watching television and nobody’s having fun. And I said, let’s just have fun on television. It’s not like we’re curing cancer or solving the world’s problems. Let’s just have fun. And I had to call Dick Ebersol, and the rest is history.

SMW: A lot of people would say that you’re one of the most famous TV analysts there is.

Charles: I don’t think like that. I think that being one of the few black people on television who can be honest and straightforward, I take that very seriously. There are very few black people on television. Like when you watch the news. We’re not taught to – that’s why I get annoyed when people say I can say what I want to or I’m controversial. It isn’t like I’m saying stuff that hasn’t been said before. But I take it very seriously, my position.

SMW: Have you ever thought about going into – I know you had the talk show, Listen Up, back in 2002.

Charles: Yeah, but I didn’t like that.

SMW: You used to make a few appearances on Talkback Live –

Charles: Yeah, but see, that’s one of the things that really annoys me. They want to keep you in a box. Like, ‘talk about sports’. That’s why I try to step out the box. That’s why I tell them, ‘hey, let’s go to politics tonight’. That’s the only reason I work here. I don’t want to sit around, just talking about basketball all the time. I got more important things in my life.

I’m worried about the public school system in this country, it has a huge effect on minorities and poor people. And you know, people talk all the s*** they want to about white and black and all this – America’s divided by economics. It’s really rich people against poor people. And the public school system in this country – I feel bad for these kids.